Mike Williamson on Carlisle United's defeat to Grimsby

The Blues lost 3-2 despite leading 2-1 heading into the last ten minutes.

It proved an anti-climactic afternoon in the head coach’s first home game, which Carlisle had started well with a bright first-half showing.

Things then got away from the third-bottom Blues after the break as Grimsby scored twice late on at Brunton Park.

Williamson told the News & Star: “I felt as though we got tired and our concentration dropped.

“Obviously, we're asking the boys to take on a lot of information, and I thought in the first half you could really see the understanding and the control in the game.

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“In how we were able to move the ball from side to side behind the box, the quality was extremely high and I thought we were unfortunate to not get more goals.

“You can see from the start what we're wanting to achieve but then in the second half we just didn't get going – which we'll watch back, we'll identify why, we'll give the boys the solutions but it's going to be a process and the boys are giving everything they've got.

“I felt as though, in terms of mentality, we came out [for the second half] and potentially, when you're holding on to a lead, you kind of just hope that things break for you [and you then] continue the ascendancy, where it needs to be a conviction in everything we do.

“They [Grimsby] were going to be a bit more aggressive, a bit more offensive and they have got the ability to take more risks.

United players react to Grimsby's 90th-minute winner (Image: Ben Holmes)

“So, [it was] the combination of that and the tiredness creeping in.

“The boys have given everything and they're such an honest, hard-working group which is brilliant to work with every day, but it's up to us to try and keep raising the levels in everything we do.”

As Grimsby got on top of United in the second half, Carlisle were unable to defend two crosses as Lewis Cass and Harvey Rodgers made it 3-2.

That followed the Blues’ positive first half efforts where goals from Sam Lavelle and Dominic Sadi, either side of Luca Barrington’s leveller, had put Williamson’s side ahead.

On the late goals, he added: “Again, it's just the concentration.

“In the first half we were on the front foot and we defended really well, and then we had lapses and we got punished.

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“We know that's going to happen [if we have lapses] and we've just got to make sure that we improve that.”

Williamson did not make any substitutions until the 87th minute – by which point Grimsby had forced their way back into things.

Asked why he did not alter things sooner, the new United boss said: “That’s the hardest part in football, wanting to effect change but not wanting to take away anything that we feel [we could use] to get a foothold back into the game with the players we had.

“Based off the first half, we knew we had that on the pitch. Obviously when you've got Chas [Wyke] and Luke [Armstrong] and Dom [Sadi] and JJ [Jordan Jones] on the pitch you feel as though you've always got goals.

“That was part of wanting to keep them on as long as possible.

“We looked at making a few changes when we were 2-1 up, and then conceded and that kind of changed the plans a little bit.

United fell to a sixth defeat from eight in League Two (Image: Ben Holmes)

“It [then] felt as though we were getting severely tired and we needed to change something towards the end.”

Carlisle have now suffered six defeats in eight in League Two and remain 22nd, having missed a chance to move up the table. They host Notts County on Tuesday night with Williamson keen to make the most of the way the Blues played in the first 45 minutes on Saturday.

“It was [very good] and we see it in training, the boys working hard, really buying in and I think that will show them again why we had that control and understanding,” he added.

“But then in the second half it was down to that fatigue and our concentration levels, and we just lost that aggression and desire to do the simple things cleanly and clinically.

“That's what we've got to strive to get to.”